Nature vs. Nurture Debate

Nature vs. Nurture

• A debate about the influence of genetics (nature) versus environment (nurture) on behavior.

Nature

• Inherited characteristics influencing personality, growth, intellect, and social interactions.

Nurture

• The environment.

Evolutionary Perspective

• How natural selection promotes gene survival through traits.

Eugenics

• The study of improving human hereditary qualities.

Twin Studies

• Studies comparing identical twins raised apart, revealing similarities and potential genetic influences.
• Critics highlight potential similarities between strangers, and point out differences are greater in fraternal twins.

Adoption Studies

• Examining resemblance between adopted children and biological/adoptive parents to assess hereditary influence.

Central Nervous System (CNS)

• The brain and spinal cord.

Peripheral Nervous System

• Sensory and motor neurons connecting the CNS to the body.

Autonomic Nervous System (ANS)

• Controls glands and internal organs, with sympathetic (arousing) and parasympathetic (calming) divisions.

Parasympathetic Nervous System

• Calms the body, conserving energy.

Sympathetic Nervous System

• Arouses the body, mobilizing energy in stress.

Sensory Neurons

• Carry sensory information to the brain and spinal cord.

Motor Neurons

• Carry signals from the brain and spinal cord to muscles and glands.

Interneurons

• Communicate within the brain and spinal cord, connecting sensory and motor neurons.

Reflex Arc

• A simple, rapid response to a stimulus, bypassing conscious brain involvement.

Glial Cells

• Support, nourish, and protect neurons.

All-or-None Principle

• A neuron either fires completely or not at all; the intensity remains consistent.

Threshold

• The minimum stimulation needed to initiate a neural impulse.

Depolarization

• Sodium rushing into a neuron, creating a positive charge inside.

Action Potential

• A neural impulse, a brief electrical charge traveling down an axon.

Resting Potential

• The difference in electrical charge across a neuron's membrane when not firing.

Refractory Period

• A period of inactivity after a neuron fires.

Multiple Sclerosis

• Myelin sheath destruction, disrupting nerve impulse conduction.

Myasthenia Gravis

• Chronic autoimmune disease affecting neuromuscular junctions, causing muscle weakness.

Dopamine

• Neurotransmitter involved in movement, attention, learning, pleasure, and reward.

Serotonin

• Neurotransmitter impacting hunger, sleep, arousal, and mood.

Glutamate

• Major excitatory neurotransmitter, involved in memory.

Norepinephrine

• Neurotransmitter involved in arousal, learning, and mood regulation.

Endorphins

• Natural, opiate-like neurotransmitters linked to pain control and pleasure.

Substance P

• Neurotransmitter involved in pain transmission to the brain.

Acetylcholine

• Neurotransmitter enabling learning, memory, and muscle contraction.

Agonist

• A molecule stimulating a response by binding to a receptor site.

Antagonist

• A molecule blocking a neurotransmitter's function.

Stimulants

• Drugs increasing neural activity and speeding up bodily functions (e.g., caffeine, nicotine, amphetamines, cocaine, Ecstasy).

Depressants

• Drugs reducing neural activity and slowing bodily functions (e.g., alcohol, barbiturates, opiates).

Hallucinogens

• Psychedelic drugs distorting perceptions and evoking sensory experiences in the absence of input (e.g., LSD).

Opioids

• Drugs with morphine-like actions.

Tolerance

• Diminishing effect of a drug with repeated use, requiring higher doses for the same effect.

Addiction

• Compulsive drug craving and use despite negative consequences.

Withdrawal

• Discomfort and distress following discontinuing addictive drug use.

Brainstem

• The oldest part of the brain, responsible for automatic survival functions.

Reticular Activating System

• Part of the brain involved in attention, sleep, and arousal.

Cerebellum

• Brain structure controlling fine motor skills.

Limbic System

• Neural system associated with emotions and drives.

Split Brain Research

• Studying patients with severed corpus callosums, showing brain hemisphere specialization.

Corpus Callosum

• Band of neural fibers connecting the brain hemispheres.

Hemispheric Dominance

• One hemisphere becoming stronger and more adept than the other.

Broca's Area

• Frontal lobe area controlling speech production.

Wernicke's Area

• Temporal lobe area comprehending language.

Aphasia

• Language impairment due to left hemisphere damage (Broca's or Wernicke's area).

Visual Pathway

• Retina to optic nerve, chiasm, tracts, thalamus (LGN), visual radiations, visual cortex.

Frontal Lobes

• Behind forehead, involved in speaking, muscle movements, planning, and judgments (language, motor cortex, prefrontal cortex).

Temporal Lobe

• Processing auditory information and language comprehension.

Occipital Lobe

• Processing visual information.

Visual Cortex

• Visual processing areas in occipital and temporal lobes.

Neuroplasticity

• Brain's ability to change structure and function in response to experience or trauma.

EEG

• Amplified recording of brain waves via electrodes on the scalp.

fMRI

• Technique showing blood flow/brain activity by comparing MRI scans.

PET

• Visual display of brain activity detecting glucose usage.

Lesioning

• Destroying parts of the brain.

Circadian Rhythm

• Biological rhythms occurring on a 24-hour cycle.

EEG Patterns

• Alpha, beta, theta, and delta waves reflecting various brain states (e.g., relaxed wakefulness, sleep).

Stage 1 Sleep

• Light sleep; alpha waves.

Stage 2 Sleep

• Deeper sleep with sleep spindles.

Stage 3 Sleep

• Deep sleep; high-amplitude delta waves.

Hypnogogic Sensations

• Experiences between wakefulness and sleep (e.g., fear, presence, falling).

REM Sleep

• Sleep stage with vivid dreams, increasing as the night progresses.

Paradoxical Sleep

• REM sleep.

REM Deprivation

• Sleep deprivation, leading to increased attempts to enter REM sleep.

REM Rebound

• Increased REM sleep following REM sleep deprivation.

Activation-Synthesis Theory

• Dreams reflect random brain activity interpreted by the forebrain.

Consolidation Theory

• Memory circuits strengthen during sleep.

Sleep Restoration Theory

• Sleep for metabolic energy conservation and lifespan extension.

Memory Consolidation Theory

• Mental replay and practice of previous events and future events for memory strengthening during sleep.

Insomnia

• Recurring problems falling asleep or staying asleep.

Narcolepsy

• Sleep disorder characterized by uncontrollable sleep attacks, often involving REM sleep.

REM Sleep Behavior Disorder

• Neurological disorder preventing paralysis during REM, causing dream enactment.

Sleep Apnea

• Sleep disorder with temporary cessation of breathing.

Somnambulism

• Sleepwalking.

Transduction

• Converting one form of energy into another (e.g., light to neural signals).

Absolute Threshold

• Minimum stimulation needed to detect a stimulus 50% of the time.

Just Noticeable Difference (JND)

• Minimum difference between two stimuli to be perceived as different.

Weber's Law

• Difference thresholds increase proportionally to the size of the stimulus.

Synesthesia

• Describing one sensation in terms of another (e.g., "a loud color").

Lens

• Transparent structure focusing light onto the retina.

Retina

• Light-sensitive inner surface of the eye containing rods and cones.

Rods

• Retinal receptors detecting black, white, and gray.

Cones

• Retinal receptors detecting fine detail and color.

Blind Spot

• Point where optic nerve exits the eye, lacking receptor cells.

Fovea

• Central focal point in the retina, with high concentration of cones.

Ganglion

• Peripheral nervous system nerve cell bodies.

Accommodation (Lens)

• Adjusting lens shape to focus on objects at different distances.

Nearsightedness

• Distant objects focus in front of the retina.

Farsightedness

• Near objects focus behind the retina.

Dark Adaptation

• Eyes increasing sensitivity to light in low illumination.

Trichromatic Theory

• Three types of cones (red, green, blue) for color perception.

Opponent-Process Theory

• Opposing retinal processes (red-green, yellow-blue, white-black) enable color vision.

Dichromatism

• Color blindness due to missing one cone type.